these big companies, shipping to work overseas? >> i want a tax code that clears out the loopholes -- >> watched the primary coverage on our web site, c-span.org. tomorrow on "washington journal," publisher joseph mcquaid talks about the state's primary and his endorsement of speaker newt gingrich. john dunbar from the center for public integrity looks at the impact of super pacs in the 2012 campaign. what " washington journal" live on c-span. and now to new hampshire, where john huntsman participate in a town hall meeting. he was endorsed by the boston

globe. the first in the nation presidential primary is this tuesday. this is about 50 minutes. [applause] >> good morning. jon huntsman has served his country in various ways throughout his life. indeed, it is because of his deeply held convictions about service to country that he will rise about -- above the fray in washington. his record was outstanding in reducing taxes. in a spirit of unparalleled

courage, he stepped across the partisan divide and accepted the role of ambassador to china, where his business acumen was matched by his diplomatic skills in the face of china's poor human-rights record. governor huntsman's presidential campaign has been defined by fiscal responsibility, energy independence, tax and regulatory reform, as well as an approach to security that emphasizes his keen grasp of postwar realities. please join me in welcoming john huntsman. [applause] >> thank you. how is everybody this morning? do we have any voters in the room? by show of hands, how many people are going to be voting? how about over here? can i just square with you all?

this is the new hampshire primary. this is an important event in the history of the nation. you're going to go out and vote next week, and you will be the window through which the rest of the nation is able to assess and understand those running for the highest office in the land. do you have a responsibility? of course you do. i hope you do not downplay it. i hope you do not trivialize it. i hope you learned from the experience. i want you to learn from this event and how lucky and how fortunate all of you are to be participants in a process that is going to set a trend and perhaps change the course of your nation's history. this is a big, big deal. let me get to where i stand. i'm the underdog in this race.

i am understand that. but i also understand that new hampshire loves an underdog. you listen to what they have to say, and you run them through the process and they do a whole lot better than you might expect. you wake of the day after the vote and the rest the country looks at what you have done, and they say the people of new hampshire have spoken again. they know what they are talking about. that typically tends to set a trend beyond new hampshire. so, as a candidate, we have done almost 160 public events in this state. no one has even come close in terms of what we have done on the ground here in new

hampshire. because i still believe that you got to get out and turn of the vote. you know what i mean? you got to be on the streets, shake hands, the town hall meetings, house parties. people want to know your heart and soul. what is inside of you. they want to know what is in your head and what you want to do for this great country. you can't twitter your way to success. you can't facebook your way to success, folks. you have to go out and earn it. i and betting politics is still done the old-fashioned way in this state, and you have to be seen, heard, and felt. so we will put it to the test next week. and i think it will go to our benefit. i am excited as candidate for president of the united states of america, and i am running for this reason. because we are about to hand ever was, the united states of america, to you. last -- more divided, less competitive, less productive, and more saddled with debt than the america we got. and i say, this isn't fair. you are getting screwed. that is not right. and i say it is up to my generation to fix it before we

hand it down to you. in 1960, when i was born, a long time ago, we exported $3 for every $2 we imported. we owned 36% of the world's gdp. science, technology, the great standard of living in the world. it seemed like all the nobel prize winners came from the united states. our gdp, 25% of it came from manufacturing, including a lot of activity right here in this state. and i look at where we sit today. 9% of our gdp is derived from manufacturing. that is unsustainable. we are handing down to the next generation a much different america than the one we got. and i say, i have a choice, as i came back from china as the united states ambassador. you can either stand on the sidelines and watch it all play out, or you can get into the arena and fight, broadened the

debate and add to it because this election cycle is all about you. and it is about a country that we are about to hand over to you. so, what is it my generation does? we package this thing called for humanity that represents my generation -- it is about our values, our economy, are standing in the world, and our competitiveness. and we give it to you, the best thing we have to offer. i am not happy with what we are about to hand down and die say -- i say aye will do whatever i can in my -- i say i will do everything i can in mind power to bring about change, so be america you get is the very best. we have two things we have to do before we handed down to you. and you need to be aware of these issues because everything we are talking about here will fall about your lap. we have two deficits in this country that we've got to fix. one is an economic deficit. it is called $15 trillion in debt. ladies and gentlemen, how did

we get to this spot? $15 trillion in debt -- that is not a debt problem, that is a national-security problem. you know what i mean? your dad as a percentage of gdp -- your debt as a percentage of gdp becomes 70% or 80%, you cannot grow. you cannot compete in the global marketplace. that is your generation. i say, we are not going to ship wreck the next generation with debt. we will deal with it realistically and put forward plans that will cut from all categories -- from entitlements, from the department of defense -- we cannot have sacred cows. but beyond that, we have to grow. we have to grow out of the whole we find ourselves. this is what i did as governor. we have some governors running, some people from congress -- governors have to deal with growth issues.

i changed taxes in my state, created a more hospitable and friendly regulatory environment and we went to number one in this country in terms of job growth. i want to fire the engines of growth in this nation. i know it is totally possible. china is going like this. i have seen the rise of asia, specifically china. china is going from 8%, 9%, 10% economic growth to maybe 4%, 5%, 6% -- they are having problems. inflation is going up. the cost of manufacturing is going up. unemployment is going up. what happens in china, this vast country of 1.3 billion people, when unemployment goes up? you have political uncertainty. you have risk. and the investment dollars from companies all over the world that plant their dollar in china because it is always a cheap place to go will be saying, uh-uh, we want to find an alternative.

they will be looking around and we would be crazy if we did not prepare ourselves for that future. because we are still 25% of the world market. and we still in america had the most productive worker on earth. and i say, as president, i am going to recognize this a opportunity we have to get back on our feet from a manufacturing standpoint. i think the united states of america is on the cusp of a manufacturing renaissance. i really do. we need leadership and we need ideas that will get us there. and we've got to grow. we've got to expand our base. we've got to earn the ability to pay down the debt. it is the way it is done. just like a business, a family. no different. we need a president that will allow us to get there. but i will be darned if we will hand down to your generation the level of debt we have in this country.

because it is like a cancer metastasizing. it will ship wrecked the next generation unless we can get our arms around it. the second deficit i would like to spend a minute talking about is not an economic deficit -- not like the debt we just talked about -- it is a deficit of another kind. and it is a deficit we did not have when i was your age. and i would argue that it is just as corrosive and harmful to we as people as the economic deficit. it is called a trust deficit. because the people in this country no longer trust their institution of power -- institutions of power. you know what i mean? they no longer trust their elected officials. how pathetic is this? we as a nation were built and founded on trust. institutions of trust. and now the greatest nation that ever was is running on empty. i will be darned if we will pass that down to your generation.

no trust. so, how do you feel about getting a country that is wallowing in debt and one that lacks trust and basic civility toward one another? we can do better than that as americans. but we will have to do some things first. what drives of the trust problem, the trust deficit in this country? i look at congress, and i sayi know what i want as president. i want to lead the charge around this country that allows us to move toward term limits for congress. [applause] because i know this and many of you are learning about it in your own political science class is, there is this thing called incumbency that reaches up and grabs people and grows very deep roots and makes it almost impossible for people to leave congress once they get there and i say that is not right or fair. we need to free up the system

every now and again i want to lead a charge around this country. i want to be a catalyst for change. i know it is the will of the people to bring about term limits for congress. i also want to close the revolving door which allows members of congress to file out and trade and on their insider relationships and their insider information and become lobbyists. [applause] we wonder why there is no trust and why we are cynical and look at capitol hill. no trust in congress. i look at the executive branch, no trust. no leadership when this nation needs it most. despite partisan commission report on commission spending, it lands on the president's desk, a wonderful plan that could have taken this nation forward on debt and spending

and tax reform. it goes in the garbage can. no trust. no leadership. i look at our tax code, this big complicated thing that everyone has to deal with every year. no trust, if you are a lobbyist or down for a lobbyist or if you have a lawyer doing your bidding on capitol hill, you can get a loophole, you can get a deduction which is completely corrupted our tax code. just get your mind around this -- in our tax code to become a $1 trillion $100 billion in car routes and deductions and we carve outsfaust's -- and deductions and loopholes for

about 7% of the population. that is a drag on our economy that we cannot afford at this point. it is not fair to the american people. i want to phase out in my tax plan all of the loopholes in all the deductions and all of the corporate welfare and all the subsidies. i want to say we are starting with a clean slate. that is what i did as governor. i'm not giving an academic dissertation. i'm a practitioner. did i succeed in getting all the loopholes out? no, but i got a lot of them out and is a fight worth waging the is what we have to level the playing field. i like what that does to capitol hill in terms of training the swamp for lobbyists. if there is nothing to lobby for in terms of additional loopholes or deductions, there is nothing to lobby for and i like that outcome. i want to bring trust back to the tax code. i look at our wars abroad and i say no trust. we have been at the war on terror for 10 years and this nation has given its all and i want to be frank and honest with the american people -- i want to say we have done a pretty good job with respect to afghanistan. we have run out the taliban.

we have of bended and dismantled al-qaeda. osama bin laden bin lot and is -- bin laden is no longer around. no longer around. we have had free elections and help strengthen civil society. we have strengthened the military and the police but you know what? i want our troops to come home from afghanistan [applause] because i don't want to be nation-building in southwest asia the typically at a time when this nation so desperately needs to be built. [applause] if our nation is weak, if our core is weak and crumbling as it is today, you cannot protect the values that make this nation so you need. -- unique. i have lived overseas several times. i have seen this nation when the projects of values of goodness and it moves people. it changes history. it changes the event. those values of liberty and

democracy and human rights and free markets -- nobody doesn't -- does it like the united states and today we are weak and not protecting those values and i say you cannot have a foreign policy or national security strategy when you are crumbling at home. i want to square with the american people on this, too -- afghanistan is not our nation's future. it is not your future. iraq is not your future. our future is how prepared we are as people, all of us, to rise up and meet head-on the competitive challenges of the 21st century. that is your century and that is about economics and that is about education. that will play out over the pacific ocean in countries i have lived in before. i am here to tell you that we don't get our act together at all because i have seen of these other countries have done to prepare for the rest of the 21st century -- we don't get our act together at home, we will see the end of the american century during our lifetimes.

that is not the legacy that i will leave behind no trust in our foreign policy, i want to get trust back into our foreign policy. i look at wall street, no trust. we have banks that are too big to fail. i say we can fix our taxes, move toward greater energy independence, launch a manufacturing renaissance and if we're left with baxter to big to -- banks that are too big to fail, we are setting ourselves up for another bailout, a disaster. we have been there and done that and we are not going to do it again. [applause] we need a president who can say banks, if you are too big to fail, you are too big. capitalism without failure is not capitalism. we don't want banks looking like public utilities which is

what we are getting. we've got six big banks. i imagine this -- combined, they have assets that are worth 2/3 of our nation's gdp, six of them. $9.50 trillion if they get infected by the that is going -- by the flu that is going around europe, and economically they get sick and they start to go down, they cannot go down because it will take all of us with them. we have to bail them out. i say that is not right and not fair for the taxpayers in this countr to have this implied taxpayer bailout guarantee for these big banks. as president, i will say we will right size you. if you are too big to fail, you are too big. if you get sick and have problems, you can fail and you will not take all this down with us -- with you. i want to get to trust back to wall street. ladies and gentlemen, i am who i am.

i have a track record that i want you to look at as voters. it is what it is. i will not stand up and pander. i will not stand up like my republican colleagues and signed a silly pledges. i will not do those kind of things. [applause] we have received the endorsement of about half the papers in the state. we just got the endorsement of "the boston globe." i feel good about where we sit in new hampshire because i know this state laws an underdog. -- loves an underdog. we have worked hard. we have shared in message that i feel in my heart and soul. now, we need to make sure we can bring it home on tuesday. i am an optimist about where this country is going, about your generation because i have seen it from 10,000 miles away in china. if you walk the streets of beijing and shanghai, they are full of energy right now. that is because they are

growing at 10% per year even though that is coming down. you look at this country, from 10,000 miles away, the greatest nation ever, the united states of america -- we are in a funk. you know what i mean? we are dispirited as people. this is not who we are. we have to get out of all but in order to get out, we need leadership and we need confidence and we need to focus on your generation, a driving goal that says we will not leave a broken country to you. [applause] here is why i am an optimist and why all of you should be optimistic. i have seen a lot of other countries and we have some things that are pretty remarkable in this nation. you need to keep hold of them during your generation and make

sure they are strong because they set us apart and all the world. here is what some of them are -- we have stability in this country. you pick up papers and read about instability but we have stability in this country. we are able to gather and have free conversations and dialogue and disagree and we can do it with a sense of stability. we have ruled law, we are still a rules-based system. we have the longest surviving constitution in the world. we even have private property rights right here in new hampshire. we have the greatest colleges and universities anywhere in the world. never doubt that people flocked here from every corner of the world to attend them, that is how good they are. we have a creative class in this country, the finest thinkers, innovators, and entrepreneurs and they are engines of growth. right now, they are sitting on their hands because they don't have any confidence of where we are headed as a country. we have a pretty brave and

courageous armed forces. i, as president, will not allow the men and women from the theaters of combat, the front lines, to come back to the unemployment lines. [applause] they will comeback, your generation many of them, to a sense of dignity and respect and gratitude. they will also come back to jobs. like the greatest generation before them, your grandparents, the greatest generation, who rebuilt this nation during another time of need, the new greatest generation and you will be part of that will come together as americans and we will rebuild this nation once again. no more division, no more parking ourselves in alleyways and cul-de-sacs because we're all americans first and foremost. never forget that. i don't care whenever a new compromise what your point of origin is or where you go to school -- we are all americans,

first and foremost. as we proceed as people in problem solving and making business in the best it can be, i don't want you ever to forget that. we are americans first and foremost and that carries with it the idea that we show a little respect one for another. we find good and other people, this thing called humanity that i talked about earlier that we are passing down to you, it is all about who we are in is all we have to give his people. there is no more, that sense of humanity is our values, our respect for one another. our economy, are standing in the world, our schools, that is what we are passing down to you. that is what i want to fix and that is what i want to get right. i want your vote. i want your help. you know what else? i wonder trust. -- want your trust. because when you ask someone for

a vote, guess what you are asking for? you are asking for their trust. there is not a more important thing, a more valuable thing that one human being can give to another, a trust. i will work hard. i will never, ever discount the importance of the trust that i am asking people for. that is the votes. thank you so very much for being here and it has been an honor and privilege to be here with you. thank you. [applause] thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you all very much. questions? yes, sir. >> on like most young people, i don't trust corporations. your policies will attract more corporations which i don't that is a bad thing but your plans to rein in the epa and dodd-

frank may feel may make us feel -- make them feel unaccountable. how are your policies in the best interest of the country? >> good question, thank you. corporations need accountability. there's no question about that. the problem i have with dodd- frank -- sometimes when we have problems in this country and we have had some -- we overreach. sometimes it is apparent -- i -- as a parent, and i won't say anything because i have a daughter over here. abbey, stand up. just ways. -- wave. [applause] if you want to read some really interesting things worse is an interesting videos, she is part of my three daughters who make up jon 2012 girls.

you can watch some of their five videos, they are numerous. -- humorous. i mention that because sometimes parents -- maybe this is too simple an analogy -- we overreach when you have a problem with a son or daughter. and then you kind of comeback to a more comfortable spot. we have had problems in this country and i believe the knee- jerk reaction, the immediate impulse is always to overreact. and then we find we have gone too far. and we need to come back to center. with dodd-frank, this is the deal -- i was in keane a few weeks ago and went to a place called lindi's diner. all the presidents have been there and they said you were the first candidate to visit. i said that's great writ i like our chances. that says something. i went to the counter and i sat down with a guy named jamie. he was a small-business guy who repairs motorcycles. i ask him how business was going and he said not so good. he said wants to hire a person

or two and i can't. i want to get a loan from the bank and i can't. he said he has no debt. what is the deal with this? he said they are asking for a coverage requirement, a ratio coverage requirement that is higher than i have heard of before. he set up like a cover the ratio requirement, i would not need a loan. the economy is frozen. i said dodd-frank is striking again. that is what it has done to the community banks. the other part of dodd-frank i don't like and i'm not sure anyone of your generation would like this -- we've got wall street protesters out there who have some sensible messages they are in party to the american people one of which is banks that are too big to fail. dodd-frank gives aid and comfort to banks that it to big to fail. is that what you want to inherit?

t want to inherit a bunch of banks that look like public utilities that don't service the needs of the economy? i say, thank you, no. there's always a balancing act between rules and regulations in the free market system. we have always relied on a free market system, creativity, innovation. that is the reason that we are over 300 million people with a sizable land mass bordered by the two most impenetrable borders of all the atlantic ocean and the pacific ocean what we have prospered over the years. we allow a free society to flourish. that will always require a balanced. it will never be either/or. we will have to master write regulations for business, allowing great freedom to prevail secretive class can do what it has always done in this country. thank you very much for the question. yes, sir, right back here.

>> thank you so much for being with us again. it is good to see you on. >> i appreciate that. >> it is my chance to say thank-you to new england college for this fantastic events. i want to qualify my question about medicare. i'm sure there are too wanted thousand people in a match from medicare but i am also concerned about my children and your children and what will be there in the future. how can you put it on a stronger financial footing for the young people here today? can you do something about the rising health costs? >> thank you. whether it is medicare or whether it is probably the number 1 financial challenge at the department of defense even though we don't think about it in these terms, health care costs -- it is a $3 trillion industry. that is the size of the gdp of france. i was reminded when i went to

dartmouth medical center the other day. there was a roomful of doctors and researchers. i was reminded that of the $3 trillion we look at and health care year over year, about 40% of that, maybe higher, is needless superfluous spending. i say this is not. -- nets -- nuts. we can talk about health care reform but until we're ready to take that initial step and say how do we get the excess cost of the system, that is what is eating us alive and those excess costs are resulting in the double digit inflation are increases we are seeing a year over year and whether small business or the pentagon is saying -- i have two boys who were beginning their lives in the united states navy's of they are on a different health plan. i see what they are doing health care costs are impacting everybody across the board. i see we have to be smart about

how we read the system of access superfluous costs spurted want to get to a point in time where the implications for medicare are real -- to where you can visit the doctor's office with some information on some level of transparency about what is being offered they can choose what procedures are available to them. and what the cost implications are. when was the last time you walked into a doctor's office and had a doctor explain the procedures and what they cost? nobody understands what the costs are a current that has to be coupled with better knowledge of real costs with an insurance program that does what insurance companies are supposed to do. they are supposed to take a risk and they're supposed to offer accessible policies which they are not doing. i would say this is the other big part of the problem -- we

have been buried limited marketplace when it comes to insurance offerings. i say this nation is just beginning the conversation that we need to have in terms of getting the insurance companies to do what they're supposed to do, to provide real options, coverage options for our people that are affordable and are accessible. we just don't have that today. we work very hard in our state in trying to get us there. we looked at our 15% on insured in our state, the largest subsection was the young immortal population. 18-35 years of age, we will never die why do we need insurance? even if we wanted it, there's nothing we can afford. we work very hard in getting an affordable policy, a stripped- down policy which is tough to do with insurance companies. we got something and time will tell if this was an effective mo. -- move. i believe it will be effective.

if you want to buy an affordable policy in that state, in our state or another that has done the same thing, you cannot because of these cross-state border transactions. i want to drop the barriers and make the insurance sector compete. they're not where they need to be in terms of making that possible. things like personalized madison -- madison. -- medicine. i believe in the years to come when we look at medicare for the next generation will make the delivery of health care and the cost of health care far different than they are today. thanks to the human genome project and the molecular biology that has been done over the years, the way we can assess and analyze human disease and tackle human disease early as opposed to late and assess and analyze an individual based upon their dna, you have a predisposition so you can analyze things when it becomes extremely expensive and take preventive and preventive measures. that is where health care is

going long term and that is a very exciting future. finally, things like end of life care where it becomes very expensive, there should be much different way of delivering the kind of care at home as opposed to a very expensive hospital and institutions. we need a whole lot more of those kind of options that i believe will address costs. that is a long way of saying that in my head there is a lot of thinking about the whole cost side of medicare and health care generally. we will keep having this conversation but we will find ourselves right back with his basic premise and that is -- we've got to do with costs if we are going to do anything about real health care reform longer-term that will help our people. yes, sir? >> thanks for being i think the only republican candidate who believes in science. [laughter] [applause]

>> that's a revolutionary thought. >> no, water boils at 212 degrees fahrenheit whether you like it or not. having had the experiences you have that in china and the environmental degradation that china is experiencing as a result of this and their energy needs, i would like to talk about science and our energy needs as it relates to the environment and a possible economic benefit that the odds -- united states for innovation would be able to achieve in the years ahead. i would also like to answer the question whether you believe that corporations are people. thank you very >> the only other time was as that question was on the stephen colbert show. you walk out on the show and you don't know what you will get. you run a huge risk and i got that question.

i will let everyone ponder that a moment about corporations being people. on the energy side, first of all, i lived in beijing which is the most polluted city in the world. they say there are two, up probablydelhi and beijing. you cannot see across the street some mornings. that is how bad it is. their traditional pollutants as a postco2, but they have gummed up the place. they have challenges in china, enormous challenges in terms of creating 21st century cities. they are getting there in terms of building of infrastructure but little things like impenetrable traffic, pollution that causes people to get sick and stay inside, serious problems.

based on science and on innovation and technology and basic research that i believe should be sponsored by the united states government, i think the department of energy basic research likable of the national institutes of health are critically important drivers of growth and innovation that we as taxpayers must continue to fund current from that, inevitably, we will find that we draw more from the sun and wind. there's no question about that. how long does it take to get there? we cannot force technology into the marketplace based on subsidies. we're learning goes hard lessons today. eventually, science and technology will take us in that direction. that is good. meantime, we have to decide what kind of bridge rebuild from today into that inevitable future.

we have some options. we wake up to the reality in this country that we have more gas than saudi arabia as oil. how stupid are we? when will we at least take advantage of something that is cleaner, more accessible and i tristan'sfracking part, they press -- i understand the fr acking part. the industry understand better to do with issues they have encountered before and the american people will believe in it. this will serve our needs longer-term and i believe it will be better for the air and the national security implications are enormously positive that is because the imported oil now, of + 50 %, much of it from transactional countries that are not necessarily rooting for our success, you look at what we are paying for gas at the pump and we say is $3.50 or whatever

it is. take another look. take a look what we as taxpayers pay on a fully loaded basis. the deployment of troops, keeping the sea lanes open for the importation of oil, storage and handling -- based milken institute, $13 per barrel. who are we fooling? let's see what we can do on our own. i never thought i would be a car driver. an opera nor in my state said he could convert my carper id -- an entrepreneur in my state said he could divert my car. it led people to talk about alternative fuels. we had an ear problem in utah. we had really bad air quality during peak winter and peak winter -- and big summer. it became a health issue. it started a conversation about alternative fuels which led to this.

we had an air problem in utah. we have no infrastructure. we have no outlet. i went to the public utility and i said you can either be at of this discussion or fall behind. i think you want to be ahead of this discussion. i don't want to get stuck 300 miles and nowhere in the middle of the desert because i can't find a station for natural gas. if we take this revolution seriously for natural gas, we need to build up the infrastructure. my first day as president or thereabouts, i want to say there is one product monopoly that always favors oil. we have an option. if you drive a car that is fired by gas or diesel, you do ok. this is hardly where this nation needs to be longer-term.

i want to go to the federal trade commission and the senate judiciary committee and say we will break this one apart. we will do to this one product distribution monopoly cold oil what we did to broadcast communications back in the early 1970's. when i grew up, we had about three options on television. now we have more and many in the media benefit from what was done in terms of opening up the marketplace. i say i want to do for this one product monopoly what was done with broadcast communication and i want to make it so we can draw from all kinds of different products. i think that is the kind of energy independence that i would envision starting with the infrastructure that we so desperately need, realizing we will convert to address the session and hour of electricity and manufacturing. they want a president who will say this is where we are going.

we're not looking back and inevitably will drop from the sun and wind but we have a bridge to build that will take our people into the future while creating jobs and improving the air and addressing national security implications. [applause] will take one more and let you go. yes, ma'am? >> what about corporations as people? >> i think that is self-evident and i don't think that needs to be answered. of course corporations are not people. who would say such an outlandish thing? [laughter] i cannot imagine anyone running for president saying that. >> some supporters of ron paul have put a video out showing you speaking chinese and portraying withma as chairmano.

-- portraying you as chairman mao. have you seen this video? how can this be used as a tool against you? what does it say about this country that learning a foreign language can be used as a tool against you? is it still possible to be a centrist politician in the u.s.? do you have the impression that all the other candidates are just pulling their weight for their right and you are the -- clawing their way further right and you are the centrist? why is a centrist the underdog? >> some people like to call its centrist or something else. i do what i do based on a view of this country and its future. there is a sense we have to be real. we have to draw from ideas that are doable and not so outlandishly stupid that they create a lot of political infighting and finger-pointing. it can never get done.

i am a realist at the end of the day. i don't like to spend a lot of time posturing and being one thing during the pre-primary phase and then the primary phase and during the general. i am who i am from start to finish. i am wont to say that during the -- willing to say that during the primary phase, if you don't like your hair on fire and you don't sign those silly pledges and you don't have oo theseps moments, -- oops moments, you'll not get as much air time. people not talk about you as much and therefore you will not go up in terms of rain -- name recognition. that is okay because this is a nation full of a whole lot of common sense-minded folks. they will enjoy watching the circus play out and all the political theater until they have to stare down the ballot box which everybody is about to do. when they stare down the ballot box, they have to ask the question -- i enjoyed the political fair and a circus act. it has been entertaining a "watching survivor on

television but now i have to choose the president of united states, a background in drop from an -- a background they can draw from, inability to bring people -- and ability to bring people together, a temperament and a vision for where this country should go. i think that will inform a whole lot of decisions when they approached the ballot box starting right here in new hampshire. this is a primary. it is the real deal with respect to the ron paul video -- i just saw parts of it yesterday. it is just stupid. second of all, i have lived overseas four times. i believe that our world tends to be a small interconnected place, much more so than we think. i speak chinese, of course i do. if someone wants to poke fun of me for that, that is okay. what i object to is bringing forward pictures and videos of my adopted daughters and suggesting there is some sinister motive there. i have a daughter from china who was a bandage at two-months

of -- abandoned at two months of age at a vegetable market. she was picked up by the police and sent to an orphanage. she had no future and no hope, nothing to look forward to. now she is in my family. she is one of the greatest human beings i know. [applause] she is also at 12-years old, my senior foreign-policy adviser. [laughter] i have a second daughter was born in india in a very rural village and left for dead the day she was born. luckily, she was picked up before the animals got her. she was sent to a catholic orphanage first day and spent a year there and was raised and now she is in my family. i have two little girls who are a daily reminder that there are a lot of kids in this world who

don't have the brakes to do and to face an uncertain future that -- the breaks that you do, and who face a very, very uncertain future that lacks health care, that lacks the ability to dream and plan and any sense of upward mobility. these two girls are on the presidential campaigns. trail i say, how cool is that? thank you all very much for having me here. thank you. [applause] fo [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

[room noise] [general noise] [inaudible conversations]

[room noise] >> if you really want to see the candidates, c-span is road to the white house political coverage takes you on the campaign trail. go to town halls, a campaign rallies and meet and greet.

>> you talk about remanufacturing back to the united states. what are your plans to do that? >> i want a tax code that clears out all of the loopholes and deductions -- >> what our new hampshire primary coverage on c-span television and on our website, c-span.org. >> i walked into a bike shop,

and the owner said he would like 50 of these computers. i saw dollar signs in front of my eyes. >> steve jobs biography by walter isaacson is number one on the new york times best-seller list. tomorrow on book tv, the author talks about advice the apple co- founder got early in his career. >> one is to focus, really keep your focus. the other is empathy, not the perfect word for it, but it is basically make an emotional connection to the people who are going to buy your products. the third is also not a great word. the word is impute. it means cast an aura around what ever you do so that the minute you -- you know, steve, even throughout his career had his own personal name on the patents so the boxes, the packaging of the apple products, so that when you open it up and

there was the ipod, you imputed that there was something really cool just the way it was. >> watch the rest of the interview tomorrow on book tv on c-span-2, or anytime on line at the c-span library. during today's pro forma session, house republicans blocked assistant democratic leader james claiborne from speaking on the floor. he rose to offer a measure urging republicans to work on a payroll tax cut compromise, but the presiding officer ruled him out of order. he said no business was to be conducted during the pro forma sessions then gaveled the session to a close. the video feed, under control of the house gallery, was ended. here is a look. edwards: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

>> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is ott of order. puuant to section 4-a of house resolution 493, no organizational or legislative business will be conducted on this day. pursuant to section 4 hc of house resolution 493, the house stands adjournedntil 2:00 p.m. on tuesday, january 10, 2012. >> following the pro forma session, house democrats met with capitol hill reporters. nancy pelosi and other leaders called on republicans to return to work and criticize the gop for saying that the house was not in session. this is about 25 minutes. >> good morning. democrats are here and we are

ready to work, and we just can't wait. i think that what we heard this morning in the jobs report is an indication that the president's proposals are working, this program is taking hold. and we believe that our republican colleagues are doing a tremendous disservice to the american people by continuing to vacation when the foundation moving an agenda seemed to be solid and should be built upon. and we democrats are here ready to work, ready to make sure to build stability in the lives of the american people. our conferees are all here in washington looking for their republican colleagues so they

can develop a proposal to extend the payroll tax cut for the american people and do so in such a way that certainty and stability will be built into the lives of the american people. 160 million americans are in jeopardy of not having a contingent tax cut. we democrats believe that middle income americans deserve this tax cut, but they are also deserving certainty. that is why our colleagues are here. as you notice, we were just shut down and not allowed to speak from the floor, when we were told we are in session. and we went to the floor to work. but we were not allowed to do the people's work.

and so, my colleagues are here with me today, and i would like now to yield to our illustrious leader who has come back from vacation to bring us democrats here to washington so we can do the people's work. ms. pelosi. >> thank you so much, assistant leader clyburn. thank you for going to the floor to call for the conferees to meet to give a payroll tax cut to 150 million americans, to ensure and reassure millions of americans out of work through no fault of their own that they would have unemployment benefits, and to tens of millions of seniors that they will be able to see their doctor under medicare. this certainty gives people confidence. these measures will inject demand into the economy.

because those who receive the tax cut, those who received the unemployment benefit, need the money, will spend the money, inject demand and create jobs. it is good for the economy, it is good for american families. we were told yesterday that congress was in session. that is why we went to the floor today to call upon the conferees to get to work. the american people are crying out for jobs, they want us to work together. we can do that. i don't know what the republicans are afraid of. where are they? they are telling us that they were late in december so they cannot be here in january? one month -- one month on bank, 1 month off? we cannot wait. as the leader said, -- giving confidence to people. already the economy is responding to his leadership in

that regard and with the hope we will continue our hope in a bipartisan fashion and in a timely fashion to extend the tax cut, the unemployment benefits, and the seniors ability to see their doctors for the rest of the year. there is no reason -- tell me why, how can we explain to americans why the conferees are not here to do their work? even if the leadership does not want the congress to be here doing the people's work? one year and one day ago, republicans were sworn in as the majority in the congress of the united states. great privilege. we can associate ourselves with what a great privilege it was to do the people's work. one year later, have they tired of it? one year later we are working five days in the month of january, when the american people desperately need us to take positive action for job creation. i am very proud of our conferees, some are with us right here now.

all of them here this week to get the job done. scores of our members came from across the country to urge congress to get moving on the conference report, hoping that we could be in session to have some exchange of ideas on this subject. but evidently, the session to he some exchange of ideas on this subject. evidently the republicans think the needs of the american people can wait. i am pleased to yield to the vice chair of our caucus john larsen of connecticut. >> to underscore the urgency meeting with the iron workers and the current head of the trade association my state have experienced more than 40% and

employment. 40%. and here is the president with a plan that puts the country back to work. that focuses on our infrastructure system, and most notably, our schools. in kind -- the contrast could not be more glaring, to understand the need to have a first-rate education system and to see our schools upgraded in a way that many of them have not been in years, and to understand that at the same time you would be putting those very people back to work. the republicans have left us in the dark abyss of uncertainty, and that uncertainty is what we see when we go home and speak to our constituents almost every single week. they want us here working. they feel what martin luther king said so eloquently so long ago, that the fierce urgency of now, to put them back to work,

and that is why we are here both ready to take on a conference assignment led capably by our vice chair becerra, who will speak next. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this is a little difficult to understand. we have been told by the republicans that we are in session. we just spent four minutes today in a session, and now we are done. well, most americans woke up at the beginning of this week wanting to be able to say, loving to be able to say i will go back to work after this vacation. yet, here we are, and we are done. four minutes. and we've got some work to do. either we are in, or we are out of session. kenya and imagine what would -- can you image what would happen

if we have republicans working with the president to create jobs? if 212,000 private-sector jobs were created last month, even with the obstruction of the republicans in congress and over 1.6 million jobs created in the last year, despite the obstruction of the republican congress, could you imagine how many americans today would be able to say after their vacation, "i am going back to work?" as ricky ricardo used to tell lucille ball, i think our republican colleagues have some splaining to do. we need to have every hand on that because every american is working as hard as possible. we need to make sure that every single american, those elected to the house of representatives, are ready to work. let me yield to the member of leadership, chris van hollen. >> i thank my colleague. i will present two numbers. 160 million americans. the other number is about 20

conferees, 435 members of the house. you would think that about 20 conferees of 435 members of the house will get back to work on behalf of the 160 million americans and put that uncertainty to rest. that is what it is all about. as mr. clyburn said, we saw some good news. we saw the overall unemployment rate come down a little bit. we saw 200,000 new jobs created. but we also know that the economy remains very, very fractured. we know that millions of americans are still out there every day looking for jobs, not able to find one through no fault of their own. that is why it is so important we get to work and get to work

now, just like all the americans who have jobs got back to work. now, a majority of the house republicans of the conference committee have been on record in the past the opposing the idea of a payroll tax cut for 160 million americans. so, i hope the fact that they are not here today is not an indication that they do not want to continue to extend that tax cut for 160 million americans, because we know in the last round they tried to have all sorts of extraneous, -- they tried to add all these extraneous provisions, and that is why we had to do it for two months. let's go back, finished the job, and make sure we keep this fragile recovery moving. with that, i want to yield to the ranking member of the energy and commerce committee and member of the conference committee who is here and ready to get to work, henry waxman. >> the republicans are playing a game, let's pretend. let's pretend we are in session for four minutes. let's pretend we are working, because they banged the gavel and allowed the prayer and the pledge of allegiance.

let's pretend today head up a democracy -- keeping other points of view from being expressed on the house floor today when they cut off our assistant leader and the members here today. they are playing, let's pretend it does not make any difference that we are only going to meet five days in the month of january. let's pretend it does not mean anything to them that there are 160 million americans depending on us to act to extend the middle-class tax cut, to extend unemployment insurance for those who are not working, to make sure that doctors are adequately reimbursed so that they will keep seen medicare patients. i think we ought to stop playing games, whether it is "let's pretend" or any other game. it is already the new year in 2012. let's get to work.

millions of americans are depending on us. let us some of the republicans from the four corners of the earth -- hawaii, and india, or wherever they may be out there on their privately-funded trips -- i should throw in las vegas because i know there is a trip to las vegas. come on back to washington. the weather is not as nice, but the work we are elected to do has to be done here. let the conferees meet. we have been informed we will not even have a meeting until january 18 or thereafter. let's get to work. come on, republicans. let's not pretend to work. let's really work. and i now want to yield to the gentle lady from maryland who so ably led us in the pledge of allegiance and who has been here with all of us, to express the feelings that we also strongly hold, that the american people are depending on us.

>> thank you. this morning, when i came in to lead the pledge i thought it was a work day, and it is sad that here we are on january 3, when millions of americans actually went back to work after their holidays, millions of americans, except republicans in congress, who thought it was ok to take virtually the month off while we wait to extend unemployment compensation for millions of those who are unemployed for no reason or been fault of their own, while we wait to extend and give certainty to 160 million americans across this country who want those middle-class tax cut so that they can take care of themselves and their families and put that into the economy. we came here to work. and i am just rank-and-file. i thought it was a work day because that is what people do after the new year begins.

but that is not what republicans in congress have done. instead, they say we want to work five days in january for a month's pay. we want to work for minutes on friday for a day's pay, while they spend it someplace else other than your in washington on capitol hill doing their business and extending unemployment benefits, providing 160 million americans with the certainty of a middle- class tax cut and making sure our senior and disabled have the ability to have their doctors paid for wrecked -- medicare reimbursement. we cannot wait any longer. it is time to work. time for republicans to get back here in washington and work a month for a month's pay. >> i thank my colleagues for being here. i thank them for going to the floor to express the concerns that i know are felt by people across the country. where are the jobs, where are the republicans? we talked about passing the bill that would extend payroll tax cuts for 160 million

americans, extend unemployment benefits for millions of people unemployed through no fault of their own, and extending the ability to see a doctor for tens of millions of seniors. there is plenty else we can do. the absence of congress being in session deprives us of the opportunity to take it to the floor, to reignite the american dream, build ladders of opportunity for people who want to work hard and play by the rules to reach their success. and we have plenty of work to do. we could be taking up an infrastructure bill to rebuild america, reignite the american dream, rebuild the middle class, rebuild america. make it and america, as mr. steny hoyer always said, so we could be passing this legislation and the president has and all in his proposal and instead the republicans are

missing in action. you heard us on the floor, but unfortunately the public could not here because we were shut down when mr. clyburn, the distinguished gentleman from south carolina, stood up to speak on behalf of the american people. we are pleased to take any questions. >> the republican who presided over the pro-forma session just called what the democrats did on the floor theatrics, and when you were speaker house republicans staged a similar protest during the august recess. >> they danced on the floor, they stayed, and they were on television, as you recall. but the fact is, right now we have massive unemployment in our country. perhaps people in washington do not notice. i wish you could read my christmas cards, cards are received from hundreds of people talking about their needs and how they want a job and can congress please work together to create jobs. this is a very, very difficult

time for the american people. they are losing patience with congress. they simply don't understand why when they need jobs, we can do ours. and again, an important time when we could be instilling more confidence in the public that we would be getting people's work done. >> ms. edwards, you said when you drove in you thought it would be a work day. the district is close to washington. when the democrats were in control of your often asked to preside over pro-forma sessions. when you were presiding did you anticipate or have anticipate -- or have any anticipation that any of those would be workdays? >> for me, as a member of congress representing the fourth congressional district, every day is a work day and we need to get to work to create jobs for the american people. that is what i expect us to be doing. after a long vacation, the rest of america that has a job went back to work. the congress needs to come back

to work, too. we have work to do. we have to create jobs. we have to make sure we extend unemployment for millions of americans who are out of work, and we need to make sure we extend those tax cuts for 160 million americans who went to work after the holiday. i came ready to work. i am ready to work. my democratic colleagues, many of them over here yesterday, also ready to work. our conferees are here. it is time for the republicans in congress to get to the business of the american people. >> and it is about time -- it is about the time american people have been out of work, the time we are not working for them, it is about time for us to get here and get the job done. so, it if you want to get bogged down in process of who did what -- when we did -- came into congress, one of the first 100 hours, we passed legislation to raise the minimum wage, to insist the secretary had the

right to negotiate for prescription drugs, to make sure that those drilling offshore pay their royalties. not all of it became law. president bush was president at the time. but most of it did. and we continued to be on the job as long as there is the need and opportunity for us to get the job done. and right now, it is a time for us to have the conferees set down at the table because the work was not completed last year. it was not completed last year because as mr. chris van hollen said, many of the conferees, in addition to members of the republican caucus, did not support a payroll tax cut for 160 million americans. tax cuts for the wealthiest people of the country. yes. but 160 million middle income american americans, no. then they use the excuse it was

not long enough. like yogi berra talking about a restaurant -- i did not like the food there, it is not any good, but the sides, the portions are too small. they do not like the payroll tax cuts but yet they are saying they want it to be longer. there is uncertainty. if you do not think it is a different time, take a ride outside of washington, d.c., see what the public mood is and the need for us to create those jobs, not only to do what they say in the legislation but what it engenders in terms of confidence in people, hiring by businesses and injecting demand into the economy. i simply would not have us engaged in this, that, last august, 10 years ago -- this is about the here and now and the highly unusual circumstance we are in because of republican failed economic policies of

president george bush. it took us to a financial meltdown, took us to a near depression, took us into deep deficits that we still have to deal with. are they just too tired to come to work? i hope not. >> conferees -- the senate democrats are not here. are you calling them in to? >> we are asking for them to come to work. we are asking all of the conferees to get to work. am i just wanted to confirm something -- because i think you have to distinguish what republicans did when they came and the floor was not opened, and what we are trying to do today. when the republicans came and told us to do some work, we had recessed. we had formally recessed.

we had essentially told every member to go back to your district and work at home. this is your opportunity. you will not have votes -- we will not have votes. the republicans today are upset at the president for having a recess appointment, and they claim we are not recess, we are still at work, that you should be here prepared to vote. there is a great difference between a situation where we formally recessed and every member understands you do not be -- have to be in washington, versus today where republicans say we are not at recess which should tell every member to be prepared to cast votes. whether it is don edwards or any other member of congress, there is a great difference between what the republicans did on the house floor and what we are attempting to do today. the republicans are the ones saying we are at work and we are saying, prove it.

>> we are joined by jonathan strong. what were democrats trying to get done when they tried to get recognized? >> it is a kind of political theater. they are saying they are ready to work and this is productive for them on two levels. it shows they are anxious to deal with the economy and it addresses the controversial recess appointment by president obama. they say they thought congress was in session but today we were not able to do the work of the people. here we are ready to work and there is no congress that is

happening. they are addressing both things. >> it is a piece of theater that does not get the scene because cameras are controlled by the gallery. >> that is true. we reporters were made aware of it and it harkens back that republicans did the same thing in 2008 when gas prices were high. they held a number of protests on the house floor with no microphone power and to show they were ready to try to address high gas prices. this is becoming a tactic you can use as the minority. >> there are a number of sessions between now and january 17. any indication they plan to continue this effort? >> they have kept it up for the last couple of days.

they seem to enjoy themselves. they came off on a big win before christmas. i think they feel the wind is at their back. i have not heard they're going to. >> in their comments, and did leadership talk about the payroll tax extension? are they trying to set the scene? >> they are demanding that a conference committee get to work on the full extension. ask for certain things, probably a surtax on millionaires is the democratic position. they feel they have the upper hand when the republicans had to capitulate under pressure on the stand off. we will see how they do on that.

>> there had been thought that after the president made the recess appointment that republicans might come to the floor to say something during pro-forma sessions. what can you tell us? >> republicans are angry about the appointment which they argue is the unconstitutional move because neither chamber is in recess. they are exploring a number of avenues, a lawsuit to challenge the appointment and this might be resolved in court. >> jonathan strong -- you can read his work at rollcall.com. >> tomorrow, union leader joseph cm quaid talks about the primary

and newt gingrich. carol enda kenny -- carolyn mckinney talks about her endorsement of a ron paul. and the impact of super pacs. "washington journal" is at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> everybody leans on the military to neck down. they leave out lawmakers. go ahead and lose hundreds of jobs. that is how that false. that is where it stops. >> ward caroll will discuss how tax dollars are spent on defense department at 8:00 eastern and specific on q&a.

-- pacific on q&a. >> now the lesser-known candidates in manchester. they spoke about the economy, government relations, energy, and foreign policy. in new hampshire will hold the first primaries next tuesday. this is an hour and 50 minutes. >> good evening, everyone. good evening, everyone. i am the executive director here. i want to welcome you all to the forum. we do many events here. it is the home for politics. i invite you to the web site, and to get our news letter and find out what is happening. this evening, i want to mention a few things. thank you to c-span for being

here this evening. this will be on the web broadcast. c-span is doing their magic as usual. our secretary of state is here in the audience. [applause] >> bill is a mentor to many people, including me. our state library and is also here. our commissioner of cultural affairs, the assistant secretary of state is also here and a few distinguished people are on our panel. we have a 30-year state representative and a longtime supporter of the new hampshire primary. he sponsored a law in 1975 that mandated the secretary of state set its dates seven days or

more before similar elections. beth hall is a reporter for the "union-liter." patrick griffin, who will turn over the microphone to, you may have seen him last week in a debate. he is an author and the senior fellow here at the institute of politics. >> good evening. [unintelligible] >> tonight we will share together in this new hampshire primary where candidates you have not heard a lot about have an opportunity to share ideas.

let me quickly allow you to understand how these gentlemen were invited. there are -- [laughter] [laughter] [applause] >> how is that? better? there are 44 candidates on the ballot. invitations for the event tonight were extended for all candidates on the ballot in new hampshire seeking the nomination for the office of president who have not been part of any other national debate. that is how these folks are here tonight. we will begin with republican candidates. then when we finish, the

democrats will join us to share their thoughts. a couple of quick rules. we will ask candidates to begin with a two-minute opening, and do that in alphabetical order. following that, the panelists we have tonight will alternate asking each of them a question. i will pick the candidate randomly so we cannot keep going in and order. i will ask that you hold your applause. we will ask that you keep interruptions to a minimum. i also reserve the right to occasionally ask a quick follow-up question. everybody understands? let's start with our candidates. very quickly let me introduce them bear betzler, from

philadelphia pennsylvania. timothy brewer of dayton, ohio. dr. hugh cort of birmingham, alabama. randy crow, from north carolina. mr. l. john davis jr. is from grand junction, colorado. jeff lawman is from new hampshire. benjamin linn from new hampshire. mr. michael meehan from saint louis, missouri and the end of the table, joe story. let's give them a nice round of applause. thank you gentleman. [applause] we will immediately go to our

openings. we will begin with mr. bear betzler. we'll ask you to go for two minutes. when you're two minutes are done, i will give you longer to finish your thought. ok? all right. you are up first. >> thank you. i am bear betzler from philadelphia, pa., and it is great to be back here in new hampshire. i would like to acknowledge bill gardner and everyone at the election division that has been so helpful. as a lesser-knowns can it, people are quick to ask -- candidate, people are quick to ask why you are running, and i am grateful we have a state where the tradition allows all candidates to participate on equal footing in the primary process -- sharing their ideas